Why do Americans get WAY better CC deals than us?

its_all_over

PhilE wrote: »

Compared to what the UK used to be its an F35'ing joke. We are not a superpower and don't have much say in world events anymore. As part of a European trade alliance we had more to say, than as a tiny island which doesn't make much, relies on trade and thinks it can still afford to send big, expensive ships to do the Americans dirty work.

Better to let the Yanks be the world police they want to be, and look after our own economy by not sabotaging trade agreements with the richest country in Europe.

Rule Britannia is over. We need good trade to survive. Then we'll have better credit deals.

Oh dear, you do sound really angry, Phil, I’m sure it is not really worth getting yourself all aerated over .

PhilE

its_all_over wrote: »

Oh dear, you do sound really angry, Phil, I’m sure it is not really worth getting yourself all aerated over .

Well, you Brexit voters voted for something you thought would restore the NHS. Perhaps the money for this waste of space aircraft carrier, could have gone into the NHS?

We don't need a task force to fight in foreign wars. We can't afford it. There's no need to act like the world police anymore since we have little colonies to protect, and no need or means to create more colonies. The navy has purely a home defensive role since the empire was lost.

Its unnecessary tax payer expenditures like this that have a negative effect on the UK economy, and one of the reasons we have bad CC deals amongst other things.

dont_use_vistaprint

I was looking in to this and there are great cards in the UK, but all have costs. Its seems you need to pay substantial fee and spend 1K per month min. I'm looking at Virgin Rewards Plus, £160 annual fee, min 12K annual spend but great benefits if you fly with VA, about £1000 worth of benefit in year 1 and then approx £600 a year after

guesswho2000

The long and the short of it comes down to basically two things - EU interchange caps, and reluctance to accept annual fees, by consumers in the UK market.

Interchange is much higher in the US than in the UK, with no caps, and this funds rewards programmes, whereas it's capped on most cards in the EU (in the UK, exceptions are Diners Club and Amex issued Amex non-partner cards - so the Green, Gold and Platinum charge cards, Rewards, Gold and Platinum credit cards).

Smick100

guesswho2000 wrote: »

The long and the short of it comes down to basically two things - EU interchange caps, and reluctance to accept annual fees, by consumers in the UK market.

Interchange is much higher in the US than in the UK, with no caps, and this funds rewards programmes, whereas it's capped on most cards in the EU (in the UK, exceptions are Diners Club and Amex issued Amex non-partner cards - so the Green, Gold and Platinum charge cards, Rewards, Gold and Platinum credit cards).

I think Diners consumer has ceased in the UK. Corporate still exists, but interchange capping only applies to consumer credit cards.

callum9999

What everyone banging on about the interchange fee are conveniently forgetting is that before the cap, none of our credit cards were remotely as generous as in the US, so it CLEARLY isn't a major reason.

I really miss the days when people were fine saying "I don't know". Now any old idiot just spouts their ignorant guesses as fact, and other idiots believe them. (This isn't aimed at a specific person here by the way - just in general!)

As for blaming the EU, the UK pushed for this legislation (yes, the UK has always had significant power within the EU) so it makes no sense for it to be withdrawn after leaving. I see you put just as much research into this as you did when trying to work out whether EU membership was worth having (i.e. none)...

Enterprise_1701C

OK, I'm going to wade in here.

I think that credit cards became normalised in the US long before they did here, and there is far more Americans so their voices would be louder and they would find it easier to get better deals.

From what I can find out about 60% of UK adults have credit cards whereas 71% of American adults have them. It could be as simple as greater competition meaning that better deals have to be available.

No-one from credit card companies is going to come on here and say why the deals are better for one place than another, when asked why they give worse deals in the UK than in the US the answer could be as simple as "because we can".

It would be interesting to see statistics about credit card usage around the world but I cannot find that at the moment.

callum9999

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

OK, I'm going to wade in here.

I think that credit cards became normalised in the US long before they did here, and there is far more Americans so their voices would be louder and they would find it easier to get better deals.

From what I can find out about 60% of UK adults have credit cards whereas 71% of American adults have them. It could be as simple as greater competition meaning that better deals have to be available.

No-one from credit card companies is going to come on here and say why the deals are better for one place than another, when asked why they give worse deals in the UK than in the US the answer could be as simple as "because we can".

It would be interesting to see statistics about credit card usage around the world but I cannot find that at the moment.

Having a louder voice doesn't make any sense - you don't have to convince other countries to give you credit cards or anything! I don't think competition differences explain it either - there's plenty in the UK.

I won't pretend to know the answer, but the fundamental reason would be because they generate more profit. So some of that will be a high interchange fee, some will be from the vast amounts of interest paid on credit card debt. Some will be economies of scale, some will be cheaper operating costs (and less regulation). Credit card rewards (e.g. airmiles) are also cheaper to provide in the US.

msallen

callum9999 wrote: »

What everyone banging on about the interchange fee are conveniently forgetting is that before the cap, none of our credit cards were remotely as generous as in the US, so it CLEARLY isn't a major reason.

I really miss the days when people were fine saying "I don't know". Now any old idiot just spouts their ignorant guesses as fact, and other idiots believe them. (This isn't aimed at a specific person here by the way - just in general!)

As for blaming the EU, the UK pushed for this legislation (yes, the UK has always had significant power within the EU) so it makes no sense for it to be withdrawn after leaving. I see you put just as much research into this as you did when trying to work out whether EU membership was worth having (i.e. none)...

I really miss the days when ignorant idiots actually make an effort to read what they think they are criticising. If you look at my reply (#5) on the first page of this thread you'll see that I clearly said this has long been the case due to the high charges paid just to hold the highest rewarded cards in the US (i.e. the membership charges not the interest etc) and that the introduction of the interchange cap was solely responsible for rewards _here_ not being as generous as they were _here_ previously.

msallen

callum9999 wrote: »

I won't pretend to know the answer...

Pretence mode on ....

callum9999 wrote: »

Credit card rewards (e.g. airmiles) are also cheaper to provide in the US.